Paediatric dentists’ role in child protection practice: progress over time?

Author(s):  
Jenny C. Harris ◽  
Sarah R. Baker ◽  
Claire Elcock
Keyword(s):  

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Delfabbro ◽  
Craig Hirte ◽  
Ros Wilson ◽  
Nancy Rogers

In Australia, it is commonly reported that rates of child protection notifications have increased over time. More and more children in any given year are subject to a child protection notification. On the whole, these conclusions have been based on cross-sectional notification counts or rates recorded in a given year (e.g. AIHW 2009). Although useful, such analyses are limited in that they do not account for the fact that child protection incidents are unevenly distributed across individual cases. Crosssectional analyses also do not indicate the incidence of notifications within a given cohort of children.In this paper, we summarise the longitudinal and comparative analysis of data relating to children born in 1991, 1998 and 2002. The results highlight the increasingly early involvement of child protection systems in children's lives, higher annual incidence rates, as well as increasingly steep cumulative involvement curves for cohorts tracked from their year of birth. The implications of these findings for mandatory reporting policies are discussed.





2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 1635-1648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Parent ◽  
Stephanie H. Parade ◽  
Laura E. Laumann ◽  
Kathryn K. Ridout ◽  
Bao-Zhu Yang ◽  
...  

AbstractEpigenetics processes may play a vital role in the biological embedding of early environmental adversity and the development of psychopathology. Accumulating evidence suggests that maltreatment is linked to methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene, nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 1 (NR3C1), which is a key regulator of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis. However, prior work has been exclusively cross-sectional, greatly constraining our understanding of stress-related epigenetic processes over time. In the current study, we examined the effect of maltreatment and other adversity on change in NR3C1 methylation among at-risk preschoolers to begin to characterize within-child epigenetic changes during this sensitive developmental period. Participants were 260 preschoolers (3–5 years old, 53.8% female), including 51.5% with moderate to severe maltreatment in the past 6 months. Child protection records, semistructured interviews, and parent reports were used to assess child stress exposure. Methylation of exons 1D and 1F of NR3C1 via saliva DNA were measured at two time points approximately 6 months apart. Results indicate that maltreated children evidence higher baseline levels of NR3C1 methylation, significant decreases in methylation over time, and then at follow-up, lower levels of methylation, relative to nonmaltreated preschoolers. Findings from the current study highlight the complex nature of stress-related epigenetic processes during early development.



2000 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 37-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Trotter ◽  
Rosemary Sheehan

Family Group Conferencing (FGC) in child protection is a method of involving families in planning. This paper reports on a study undertaken in the Victorian child protection system, which examined (1) the extent to which the Victorian FGC program actually involves families in the planning process, (2) the extent to which FGC develops case plans which are appropriate, and (3) the extent to which FGC develops case plans which are sustained over time. Researchers observed 28 conferences and phone interviews were conducted with more than 100 participants including family members, staff members and representatives of non-government agencies providing placement and support services. The results suggest that FGC is more successful in involving family members in case planning than more traditional planning processes. Family members believe that FGC leads to more appropriate case plans which are more likely to be sustained. Child protection workers on the other hand believe that more appropriate case plans are developed in traditional planning meetings, rather than FGCs, and that case plans developed in traditional meetings are more likely to be sustained over time. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, in particular that FGCs may be used for more difficult cases.



Author(s):  
Kay Biesel ◽  
Judith Masson ◽  
Nigel Parton ◽  
Tarja Pösö

This chapter introduces the whole book: it outlines the thinking behind and rationale for the book, the key questions addressed and how the book is organised. It argues that errors and mistakes in child protection are an important issue in different countries across Europe, Scandinavia and North America. They have attracted public interest, media debates and influenced changes in policy and practice. Such developments raise a number of important questions including: What are the impacts of errors and mistakes in child protection? What discourses inform the way errors and mistakes are understood and the way they are responded to? Are certain strategies seen as helpful in reducing errors and mistakes? The book analyses the developments in policy and practice in response to errors and mistakes in child protection in different countries. Chapters cover the historical and political background of discourses on errors and mistakes in different countries and show how errors and mistakes are constructed differently in different political and social contexts with both similar and different impacts. The book demonstrates that what are understood as errors and mistakes have varied both over time and across different jurisdictions. This chapter provides both the framework for the organization of the book and briefly introduces the contents of the different chapters.



2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 1627-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie H. Parade ◽  
Justin Parent ◽  
Kantoniony Rabemananjara ◽  
Ronald Seifer ◽  
Carmen J. Marsit ◽  
...  

AbstractFK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) alters stress response system functioning, and childhood maltreatment is associated with methylation of the FKBP5 gene. Yet it is unknown if maltreatment contributes to change in FKBP5 methylation over time. The current study draws upon a sample of 231 preschoolers, including 123 with child welfare documentation of moderate to severe maltreatment in the past 6 months, to understand if maltreatment contributes to change in FKBP5 methylation over a 6-month period. Review of child protection records and semistructured interviews in the home were used to assess maltreatment and exposure to other contextual stressors, as well as service utilization. Methylation of FKBP5 at two CpG sites in intron 7 was measured from saliva DNA at the time of initial study enrollment, and 6 months following enrollment. Child maltreatment was associated with change in FKBP5 methylation over time, but only when children were exposed to high levels of other contextual stressors. Service utilization was associated with increases in methylation over time, but only among children with the FKPB5 rs1360780 protective CC genotype. Methylation of FKBP5 is sensitive to stress exposure and may be a mechanism linking early adversity to long-term health and developmental outcomes.



Author(s):  
Heather Douglas

This introductory chapter explains the emphasis of this book, which is about how women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) interact with the legal system over time. It explains the importance of the law to many women across the world who experience IPV. The chapter identifies the legal systems that women interact with, including civil protection orders, family law, criminal law, child protection systems, and immigration law. In talking about their experience with law, women focus on their relationships with different justice actors on their legal journey, including child protection workers, police, lawyers, and judges. This focus explains the structure of the book. This chapter also considers the importance of women’s stories in informing law reform.



Author(s):  
Heather Douglas

This chapter maps women’s engagement with different aspects of law over time in response to intimate partner violence (IPV). It considers the variety of legal systems women interact with at different points on their journeys, including immigration law, the child protection system, criminal law and police, civil protection order processes, and family law. The chapter identifies differences in engagements linked to women’s intersecting identities. In particular, it considers the different legal journeys experienced by migrant women, especially those who have insecure migration status, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. The chapter explores how the law itself is sometimes used by an abusive partner as a form of nonphysical abuse to extend IPV after separation.



Author(s):  
Michelle Degli Esposti ◽  
David K Humphreys ◽  
Lucy Bowes

Background Child maltreatment is a major public health problem affecting one quarter of children in England and Wales. Good epidemiological data are needed to establish how many and which children are most at risk, and to evaluate the impact of policies and interventions. However, a comprehensive data source on child maltreatment is currently lacking. Aim We aimed to create a rich data source on the incidence of Child maltreatment over Time (iCoverT) in England and Wales. Methods We developed systematic methods to search and identify administrative data sources that regularly measured child maltreatment. Data sources were investigated and assessed against pre-specified eligibility criteria and a bespoke quality assessment tool. Relevant data were extracted, digitalised, and harmonised over time. All data and their accompanying documentation were prepared to form an open access data source: the iCoverT (osf.io/cf7mv). Results We identified 13 unique sources of administrative data, six of which met our eligibility criteria: Child protection statistics, Children in care, Criminal statistics, Homicide index, Mortality statistics and NSPCC statistics. Data and documentation were prepared and combined to form the iCoverT, including 272 variables, over 43,500 data points, and spanning over 150 years. A subsequent time series analysis demonstrated the utility of the iCoverT; identifying large overall decreases in child maltreatment from 1858 to 2016 (e.g. 90% decrease in child homicides (2.7 per fewer per 100,000 children)) but worrying recent increases from 2000 to 2016. Conclusion We systematically developed a rich data source on child maltreatment in England and Wales. Our methodology overcomes practical obstacles and offers a new approach for harnessing administrative data for research. Our resulting data source is a valuable public health surveillance tool, which can be used to monitor national levels of child maltreatment and to evaluate the effectiveness of child protection initiatives.



2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hirshleifer ◽  
Siew Hong Teoh

AbstractEvolved dispositions influence, but do not determine, how people think about economic problems. The evolutionary cognitive approach offers important insights but underweights the social transmission of ideas as a level of explanation. The need for asocialexplanation for the evolution of economic attitudes is evidenced, for example, by immense variations in folk-economic beliefs over time and across individuals.



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